Premier Badminton League expects to break even in FY20

The fourth season of PBL, which is organised by Sportzlive, under the aegis of Badminton Association of India (BAI), will begin its journey from Mumbai, with the first tie being played on December, 22Anushree Bhattacharyya | ETBrandEquity | Updated: November 30, 2018, 08:05 IST

Premier Badminton League (PBL) which is in its fourth year, is aiming to break-even in FY20, Prasad Mangipudi, executive director, SportzLive, told ET BE. “The league has been designed in a manner that it has one-two revenue streams besides earning from sponsorship and franchise fee,” Mangipudi, said.

In all, this year the league is expected to post a 22% jump in revenue to Rs 50 crore, from last year’s Rs 41 crore.

For Mangipudi, the franchises in addition to earning from sponsorship, have been given the rights to hold city badminton leagues, which allows them to earn additional revenue. “Each franchise is also supposed to run an academy in their respective cities. This too allows them to earn more,” he explained.

The fourth season of PBL, which is organised by Sportzlive, under the aegis of Badminton Association of India (BAI), will begin its journey from Mumbai, with the first tie being played on December, 22.

Moreover, SportzLive expects an increase in viewership. “Last season the league was watched by 40 million viewers across two Star Sports channels and on digital - Hotstar. This year we expect a 25% increase in viewership to 50 million,” Atul Pande, MD, Sportzlive, said.

The league which has Vodafone as the title sponsor, besides Star India as the official broadcaster, is believed to be generating between Rs 25 - Rs 35 crore as sponsorship revenue. While the title sponsorship has been sold for about Rs 10 crore, ‘powered by’ has been sold in the range of Rs 5 - Rs 6 crore, while associate sponsors are believed to be paying about Rs 4 crore.

It earns another Rs 20 crore as franchise fee from the nine teams, and another Rs 2 crore as gate revenue. According to Pande, this year matches will be played at Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru. While this will help in increasing gate revenues, it reduces fatigue in players.

The company expects central revenue to almost double between 2021 - 2025, as Star India’s contract ends in 2020. The company will hold a fresh bid to find a new broadcaster for the league.

Additionally, Sportzlive intends to focus on digital. It also plans to roll out a fantasy league, besides using social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter to promote the tourney. “As our target audience largely consists of SEC A and A plus consumers, digital is one of the best medium to connect with them,” Pande said.